Coroner's figures link suicides to problem gambling

By Alyssa Allen

A Melbourne woman who lost her sister to a gambling addiction last year hopes a recent coronial report into problem gambling will ignite discussion about the lethal addiction. Coroner Ian Gray released figures showing that 128 people, including teenagers, have taken their own lives in the last decade due to their addictions.

Tracey Smith's sister Julie hid her gambling addiction from family and friends for more than ten years.

"She was pretty typical person, trying to make the best of her life and she obviously had this huge addiction that she was carrying and we just saw her as a family member having quite a difficult life and we supported her how we could, but she just kept this side of her life very secret."

Smith says she found out about her sister's double life after discovering her body.

"We basically found out once her body was found, she had taken her life and she had left all of her papers of the last 10, 15 years on the table, so what she couldn't tell us when she was alive, she left on the table."

Smith says it is time for the government to introduce a duty-of-care legislation into gaming venues.

"Legislation needs to actually come in where there is a very strong duty of care, very strong, very clear indications of where they need to actually tap someone on the shoulder and say look I think you need to, as compared to someone who has too much to drink, some trigger that actually alerts this person is in danger and not allow that person to start not appearing and find out they have taken their life."

Smith says the statements left by Julie revealed that she would withdraw money from an ATM up to five times per night.

"They just can be honest, there's so much shame attached to it, that's why it's such a hidden secret, condition, illness, they probably feel like that they have failed at life, so we're just piecing together two different lives."

Smith says the staff at the gaming venues would have witnessed her sister's out-of-control behaviour.

"Every time she would lose she would go back, that's the issue I have with that... the venues they would have seen this behaviour and they didn't do anything about it."

Smith says gaming venue staff should attend to a problem gambler.

"If they can't be honest with a family, the only way they can be detected is where they actually are doing the gambling.

If you can just picture the view of a pokie venue, there's a group of people having fun, they're playing the machines, you can see they're joyful, then you see the person sitting on their own and they're slumped and they're going back to the ATM and sitting back in front of the machine, now that's a very different picture isn't it? When that is seen three, four, five times a week, that's what I am talking about."

ABC's Nicole Chvastek spoke to Tracey Smith.

*Names have been changed by the request of the suicide victim's family.

Lifeline: Help is available. No one needs to face their problems alone. Call Lifeline 24 hour crisis line on 13 11 14 for support. For more information about depression and anxiety, available treatments and where to get help call the beyondblue info line -1300 22 4636 - or visit www.beyondblue.org.au